(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor array panel and a liquid crystal display having a thin film transistor array panel, and in particular, to a thin film transistor array panel including a storage electrode overlapping a pixel electrode to form a storage capacitor and a liquid crystal display having a thin film transistor array panel.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (“LCD”) is one of the most widely used flat panel displays. An LCD includes two panels having field-generating electrodes, a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween and two polarizing plates polarizing light and attached on outer surfaces of the panels, respectively. The LCD controls the transmittance of light passing through the liquid crystal layer by realigning liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer with voltages applied to the electrodes. The LCD uses one of the properties of the liquid crystal material that the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules is changed by applied voltages. However, the LCD using transmission and reflection properties of light needs a light source since the liquid crystal is not self-illuminant.
Generally, a thin film transistor (“TFT”) array panel for a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) is used as a circuit board for driving the respective pixels in an independent manner. The TFT array panel includes a scanning signal wire or a gate wire transmitting scanning signals, an image signal wire or a data wire transmitting image signals, TFTs connected to the gate and the data wire, and pixel electrodes connected to the wires through the TFTs for displaying images. The TFT array panel also includes storage electrodes overlapping the pixel electrodes to form storage capacitors having storage capacitance. The storage electrodes may be formed by modifying the shapes of the gate lines or formed separated from the gate lines.
The LCD, which displays images by transmitting light from a light source, has to ensure high aperture ratio.
The storage electrodes overlapping the pixel electrodes have to large areas for giving sufficient storage capacitance, but in this case, the aperture ratio is decreased.